After St. Catharines landlords expressed concerns about a proposed residential rental licensing bylaw, the city is forming a Mayor’s working group to give it a second look and will not be moving it forward in June as originally intended.

Mayor Walter Sendzik made the announcement at Monday night’s council meeting.

“Staff and Council have received a lot of valuable input from many different stakeholders on this issue and we hear your concerns. We want to make sure that we are getting this right and find made-in-St. Catharines solutions to the housing issues our city is facing,” Sendzik said.

The working group will begin meeting with city staff in early May and will consist of landlords and tenants, as well as members of the real estate industry, community housing agencies and Brock University.

The city said the group will consider the feedback received and look to what other communities have done to regulate rental housing in order to prepare recommendations for council to consider in the fall.

Anyone interested in participating in the working group should email their ideas and interest to mayor@stcatharines.ca by Tuesday May 1.

“To the landlords, tenants and community: we hear you, and we want to work together in a collaborative manner to ensure that St. Catharines stock of rental housing is safe, decent, and remains affordable for all tenants. Housing is one of the most critical issues facing our city and we will make sure we get it right,” said Sendzik.